The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-03-26

congregation: 10, nave notreIfaihea my hpe'
o Lord. thou knowest. Psalm XII, 81
Science tells of the birth and death
of worlds; of the mighty changes from
chaos to order from order back to
chaos. Compared TO these longer ages
and mightier forces, the years of man
are few; and the events Of bis life may
seem almost as nothing. The oceans
and the continents, the earth and the
sky remain; the generations of men
come and go. They ''pass through the
valley Of Baca''-the valley Of weeping;
and the places that knew them once
know them no more.
In this strange scene of life and
death man is not alone. He moves
along with vast procession he forms
part of the pathetic order Of the ever
becoming and ever unbecOming. Phys
icaliy, ne shares in common life and
destiny; he is brother to the grass and
flowers and trees to birds and animals;
he breathes the same air; is fed from
the soil, and warmed by the heat of the
sun; and, like all these, his body re-
turns to the earth from which it was
taken.
Everything that was or is, that lives
and dies, leaves some sign or mark to
tell that it has been. The tornado
leaves its desolate path in the forest !;
the extinct volcano leaves its crater ;
the dried up river or stream leaves its
banks; the glacial ages leave upon
mountain and plain the marks of the
once slow-moving fields Of ice. The
coral formations tell Of the millions of
little toilers in the sea, and in the rocks
are the graves-the fossil remains of
forms of life in the silurian age. The an
imal leaves its track in the sand; the
bird its nest in the tree.
Man is higher being he tolls upon
higher plane, and hence he leaves
other and greater evidences of where he
has been, and of what he has done. He
leaves cities and monuments; he leaves
languages and literatures governments
and religions. The Pyramids, rising up
out Of the sands of Egypt, and the
Books of the Dead" and the tombs of
buried kings tell of the civilization of
that ancient land and people. The ex-
cavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii
have brought to light the life and the
cities that long lay buried beneath the
ashes Of Vesuvius. The explorations
Of Schleimann have verified the walls
of Troy and the Trojan wars, of which
Homer sung. In England and on the
Continent one walks as if in vast Gem
etery SO many are the buried dead and
SO thick are the graves and monuments
that tell of the millions and the mighty
ones who have lived and died. The old
stone walls tell of the Roman occupa-
ton of England the marks of cannon
balls on castles and towers tell of the
wars of Cromwell. Beneath the great
cathedral at Cologne are the ruins of
pagan temple; in Paris are the streets
that ran red with the blood of the mas
sacred Huguenots, and out beneath the
sky and the sun lies the field of Water
loo, where Napoleon suffered defeat.
And all along, through and within
these external marks and memorials of
mans life in the past, lived and ran his
thought and his spirit The wars of
Cesar, and Charlemagne, and Fred
erick the Great marked periods and
transitions in human affairs, ideas of
government and religion, and so did the
pencil and the brush Of Raphael and
Rubens. In later years came the tran
sitions from the military to the indus
trial type of civilization, and along with
these the age of science and Of liberty.
And thus, man appears as higher be-
ing, a worker upon the plane of reason
and morals he aspires after higher
ideals he comes to toll, not alone, nor
upon the task of day, but to toll with
the millions and to labor upon a vast
plane of world development that runs
through the ages. He comes to dig
wells in the valleys that are dry; wells
to catch and hold the falling waters
that those who come after may queneh
their thirst. In passing through this
valley of weeping he is to do what he
can to dry the tears Of sorrow, and bring
gladness to the hearts that are sad.
Viewed in such light, the life Of
man takes on great meaning, and we
look with a profounder interest, not
only upon the life OF society, but upon
the paths and schools of thought and
action along which the world moves,
and in which the thinkers and workers
take their places--in the great drama Of
time. And hence it is that we look
with so much interest and concern upon
the great leaders of mankind. Caesar,
Charlemagne, Napoleon, Cromwell, and
Washington concerted in their lives
great historic movements of national
and world interests. And so did Luz
Their and Calvin and the great leaders
in the Reformation {; and hence it is
that their names fill so large a place in
history. These leaders were great in